Rock Bottom
by onliafaze
Summary: Remember the daruma from volume 2? A short story about something I wish would happen in future Skip Beat canon: Kyoko letting go.


Despite not planning to do so, I ended up making a fanfic. This was also gonna be a wordless comic I wanted to make for my Deviantart page. But I thought it would help to write out what I wanted. But I just couldn't stop there. So I went ahead and made the script a fanfic. Turned out to be a decent short story in my opinion.

Ahem, Skip Beat and all it's characters are owned by Yoshiki Nakamura-sensei. All I did was make a story with them. Please support the official release.

Rock Bottom

'Damn, it's cold', thought Sho Fuwa.

Christmas had come and the New Year is a few days off. And Sho is out taking a walk by the Arakawa River. He had spent the afternoon getting shots of him singing under the Suijin Bridge as the sun started setting. Now that the sun was getting too low, the staff stopped to wrap everything up before they lost too much daylight. With his part done and time to kill, he wandered by the river. As he walked, he refocused his thoughts on his upcoming album and all the other tasks that need to be done to complete his promotional video for it. But those thoughts were interrupted when he saw someone else on the bank of the river. He kept walking towards them, curious as to who else would be here at this time.

Sho was soon able to make out that the 'someone' was a woman. 'With chestnut hair... Kyoko?' Indeed, Kyoko Mogami was standing there, looking over the river. As he slowly walked closer, Sho realized she was holding something in her hands. Whatever it was, it was round and red. A ball? Ah well, he would soon find out. Somehow, she managed to avoid him quite a bit this last year. That would certainly change next year. Starting with this encounter.

"Kyoko"

She turned to him quickly, startled. She was visibly shocked to see him, much to his delight. Despite her avoidance, he clearly still has an impact on her. But that delight faded as she calmed down and gave him a gentle smile... alarmingly quick.

"Good evening, Sho", she said so casually... too casually.

"Been a while, hasn't it?" he replied. She shrugged. "What can I say, I've gotten busier. Of course, I'm sure a big singer like you has been busy with his career too." "Getting smug just cuz you're getting more jobs? Well don't. I'm still way out of your reach." She chuckled... Again, not a response he was looking for. Time to change the subject.

"Is that a ... What _is_ that you got there?" he asked, gesturing toward the item in her hands. "Oh, you mean this," she said, facing it towards him. It had the face of an old man with one eye drawn on and one all white. "It's a daruma. Have you heard of them?" He shook his head. "They're talismans for completing a goal. You draw in one eye when you start your goal, and then the other when it's been met." "Heh", he smirked. "Lemme guess, you drew on it with _me_ in mind, didn't you?" She giggled sheepishly. "Yes. This was way back when I swore my vengeance on you" He closed his eyes and laughed to himself. This is just what he wanted; her goals, her thoughts, her heart, all focused on him.

"Yeah, it is funny".

He quieted down and opened his eyes to see her earlier gentle smile replaced with a bittersweet one and eyes full of regret. "Wasn't I such a fool?" she asked no one in particular. She turned to face the river again, taking a few steps closer to it. "But even so, it's because I set that goal that I've reached a place I'm happy to be." Sho could hear the small smack of the kiss she planted on the top of the daruma's head. "That goal gave me the guts I needed to reach it. And now that I'm there, I won't be needing this guy anymore."

"What?" Sho gasped. All he could do was stand and stare as Kyoko drew back her hand holding the daruma and threw it into the river.

Splash

He stood there quietly, trying to understand what just happened. The silence was broken when Kyoko released a sigh. And then a giggle. She then started walking away, up the bank. Sho quickly around turned to face her back.

"Wait!" he shouted. "Is that it?! You're on your way to defeating me and you just quit?! You're giving up on your goal?! You're abandoning me?!" She paused and turned to face him, a smile gracing her face. "Yes. Now that I've gotten where I want to be, I don't need it anymore."

He froze.

All Sho could do was stand there. Stand and watch her run off, get into someone's porche, and leave. Stand there and remember. Stand and remember those very words he once said to himself a couple of years ago. But not about an "it", a "her". He stood as a whirlpool of memories and regret spiraled in his mind. And when he grew tired of standing, he fell on his knees.

Thunk

And at that moment, an abandoned daruma hit the rocky bottom of the river.

End

And there it was. My first fanfic, born from what I wish would happen in Skip Beat. Short, but I hope people find it worth reading. Don't know if I'll write again.

Arakawa and the Suijin Bridge are actual locations in Tokyo.

A couple people were wondering, so I think I'll confirm. Ren was in fact the person driving the porche... or at least i THINK Ren's car is a porche. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Feel free to let me know what you think, but please be tasteful.


End file.
